Retro Jams was a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

network that played music videos from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s, with the vast majority of clips used in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

to reduce rights fees. Established in 2007, it was owned and operated by now-defunct Equity Media Holdings. Retro Jams was formerly carried full-time as a free-to-air TV channel on Galaxy 18 (Ku band, K_u band DVB-S, 123°W) and on various Equity-owned terrestrial low-power broadcasting, low-power television stations nationwide. The "Retro Jams" name and branding have also been used by Retro Television Network to refer to two individual programming blocks, "Retro Jams" and "Retro Jams by Request".

History

Retro Jams was established in December 2007 by Equity Media Holdings to provide music video programming to a few individual, local Equity-owned stations which lacked a conventional television network affiliation. Programming consisted primarily of music videos from the 1980s and early 1990s. On most of these stations, Equity replaced Retro Jams with the Retro Television Network in mid-2008. As Equity had founded RTN and owned the network until 2008, the "Retro Jams" name was moved to individual RTN programming blocks "Retro Jams" and "Retro Jams by Request" when the full-channel music video format was dropped. While most affected stations (such as KCBU and KEGS-LP) simply replaced Retro Jams with Retro Television Network, RTN, a few stations went to other networks. WEVU-CA switched to Univision affiliation and K12XP-D, K25DM was operated as an independent station. The "Retro Jams" name and branding was then used by the Retro Television Network to refer to two programming blocks: * Retro Jams, an individual RTN program. * Retro Jams by Request, another individual television program. Cash-strapped Equity Media Holdings sold Retro Television Network to Luken Communications in June 2008 and entered federal chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Little Rock, Arkansas in December 2008. An option allowing Equity to re-purchase RTN from Luken expired unexercised on December 24, 2008. Equity continued to provide broadcast automation facilities and operate RTN on behalf of Luken Communications until January 2009, when Equity's failure to pay RTN's programming suppliers caused Luken Communications to move RTN to independent facilities. RTN was permanently removed from all Equity-owned or operated stations on January 4, 2009. While many of the affected stations replaced RTN with This TV, classic cinema or similar content, Equity returned the full-channel Retro Jams to the air in January 2009 in order to provide programming to the remaining Equity-owned stations. This all-music video format continued until what remained of Equity's equity was liquidated and the individual stations sold at auction later that same year. Retro Jams and the associated Equity Broadcasting FTA receiver, free-to-air satellite television feeds on Galaxy 18 (Ku band, K_u band, 123°W) are now silent. While RTN is a trademark of the Retro Television Network, there is no record of any registered trademark on the Retro Jams name by either RTN or Equity.http://uspto.gov TESS search

References

{{American broadcast television Defunct television networks in the United States Equity Media Holdings Music video networks in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2007 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2009

History

See also

References